Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Around OakMeadows

It is 195 days until the election is over. Can we stand it that long?

Last night I got up at 10:45pm and put the Slow Cooker Beef Stew into individual containers and finally got them in the refrigerator. Next time, Florence, make sure the Slow Cooker is plugged in as well as turned on. All is well that ends well because dinner is now cooked, ready to heat and serve, and all the cleaning up is done. But still, next time, check the plug.

The Rainpocalypse was back this morning but fortunately it didn't hang around like last week. Wind, Rain, Boom/Crash, and gone. Yes. And the good thing is that it is blessedly cooler and less humid!

I found a Citizen Scientist website for a Nest Watch program sponsored by Cornell's Ornithology Lab and the Audubon Society. I will look into it today and maybe sign up. It would be easy to do with our barn swallows. We shall see.

I am watching my way through the last season of Downton Abbey. Most of the story lines are repeats, although Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes did manage to get married in the episode that I watched last night. I mostly watch it to see the gorgeous clothes. I realize that only the gentry dressed like that but I do think people in general put more care into their dress than we do today. Which of course has its good and not so good sides.

JMM is still borderline sick. Congestion and fatigue and irritability. TSM went back to the doctor and got antibiotics for an ear and throat infection. I think at least part of her being sick is due to stress.

I have 16 of the 25 blocks that I need for my scrap 9-patch quilt done. Next I need to cut out more squares for the remaining 9 blocks. So 81 squares to cut. What an improvement rotary cutters are over scissors!

We are planning a trip to Montpelier, Monticello, and Mount Vernon the first week in October. What got me to thinking about this was the biography of James Madison that I read recently. I gained so much respect and admiration for him that I wanted to see his home. Madison and Jefferson were close friends and neighbors and since I've never been to Monticello, I added that on. And while we are so close to Mount Vernon, I'd like to go back there too.

Sounds as if you are having a fun time with domestic stuff. I avoided getting into Downton Abbey, however, my grandmother whose father was a railroad engineer wore some very nice clothes back at the turn of the twentieth century. I have a photo of her in her college graduation dress.